Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ: Bushwacker Flares, Maaco Paintjob

It's almost hard to believe the Grand Cherokee has been in the Jeep lineup for over 20 years now, as it was first officially introduced in 1992 as a 1993 model. The first incarnation of the Grand – the ZJ (1993-98) – was created to compete with the popular Ford Explore. The unibody-designed Jeep was actually in development for many years before it was finally introduced, and it played a huge part in the massive growth of the SUV market – and Chrysler’s success.

In 1999, Jeep completely redesigned the Grand Cherokee for the second-generation model that is tabbed the WJ (1999-2004). Aside from the body and interior changes, Jeep also updated the inline six-cylinder to increase its horsepower output by 10 to 200 horsepower. It also got rid of the pushrod V8 motors with its new PowerTech V8, which didn’t produce as much horsepower but were lighter and boasted improved fuel economy (though later proved to not be the most reliable engine). After a major redesign in 2011, Jeep surprisingly made some more changes in 2014, including the addition of a 3.0-liter diesel motor and a host of exterior and interior features. Although the new Grand Cherokees have come a long way in offering luxurious features while still retaining the Jeep adventure theme, some felt the third-generation Grand Cherokee (WK, 2005-2010) marked a major shift away from off-road ability when it shifted from a live-axle in the WJ to independent wishbone suspension up front.

In a way, the WJ Grand Cherokee might be considered by some Jeep purists to be the last Grand Cherokee that’s still a “Jeep.” There are tons of WJs still out there, and most importantly they can be found relatively inexpensively. It’s with this in mind that we set out to begin our WJ Project. Having owned a TJ where space is a premium, the WJ looks like a bus in terms of storage and passenger space compared to the small cab of the TJ. The idea of added space is a great prospect, but in comparing the WJ to the a TJ Wrangler, that space comes at the price of off-road ability on the trail.

For our project, we wanted to build a capable WJ Grand Cherokee that still could be used as a daily driver. Getting it trail-ready is a more daunting task, however, as there are some considerable limitations to the road-friendly Grand Cherokee WJ. We found a 1999 Grand Cherokee in pretty decent condition. We purchased one with the stout inline-six 4-liter motor compared to the often trouble V8s on the WJ. We wanted to lift the WJ but while still keeping a low center of gravity for good on- and off-road handling characteristics. We turned to BDS Suspension for its 4-inch WJ kit, as we’ve heard great things about the company’s products and were exited to try them firsthand (we’ll highlight the lift more in our next phase of the project). The downside to this and any 4-inch lift is that it can only realistically fit 31-inch tires. That was still too small for us; on the other hand, we didn’t want move up to a 6-inch and sactifice our low COG. We found the perfect solution in Bushwacker’s WJ Cut-Out Fender Flares, which would allow us to fit 33s with our 4-inch BDS kit.

The Bushwacker Cut-Out Fender Flares are designed to add up to 1.25 inches of tire coverage. The kit is not a simple bolt-on application though; it is much more detailed, as the “cut-out” portion of the name refers to the actual cutting of some sheet metal. Since our WJ only cost us a few thousand dollars, this made us much less worried about trying our first Bushwacker install.

Bushwacker includes detailed instructions on every step of the process with each kit. Included in our WJ kit were OEM-quality textered black front and rear bumpers constructed of UV-protected Dura-Flex 2000 TPO (Thermoplastic Poly-Olefin), complete stainless-steel hardware, fender trimming, a torx nut fitting (for the flare screws), edge trimming tool, molding, double-sided tape and all of the additional hardware necessary for a complete installation. Bushwacker also lists the suggested tools needed for installation:

Bushwacker provides a limited lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects (with provided proof of purchase), and the kits are made in the USA.

Before we started the installation of the Bushwacker flares, we were faced with a decision. Although this would be a weekend adventure vehicle, it still would be driven during the week as well. Being that our 1999 lived its life near the California coast, the salinity in the air can eat up paint jobs pretty quickly, and the paint on the driver’s side was starting to oxidize. We wanted to potentially paint the vehicle to freshen up its look, but we also didn’t want to break the bank so early in the project.

We hunted around at quite a few paint and body shops, getting approximate quotes in the $2500 to $5000 range, which was way out of our budget. We decided to to get a quote from our local Maaco. The company has been in business providing auto body repair and paint since it was founded in 1972, though each location is individually owned and operated. We spoke with Ryan Capdevielle, who owns and operates both the Costa Mesa locations in Southern California. We explained our situation that we wanted to get a decent paint job but didn’t want to break the bank, and Ryanand his staff were receptive to our situation and didn’t try to oversell us.

Maaco offers a number of different paint options, going as low as about $400 (or even $300 when they're running promotions) for a non-clear-coat paintjob and then going as high as $2500. Although this would be a trail vehicle that is sure to get some dings and knicks over the coming years, we didn’t want something without clear coat that would nick and scratch easily. So, we opted for the $999 option, which is a base coat and a clear coat finish on top. The price is actually $1199 for our vehicle, though, since it's an additional $200 for our larger SUV (the $999 quote is for traditional sedans). Although the Jeep has a few minor dings and knicks, we didn't need any addtional body work but went with the chip and scratch repair ($100), and we also opted the additional sealant to help protect the paint (also an extra $100). There are a number of options available, including getting the door jams painted, hood and rear door latches, color sand and polish. For our needs, however, the clear-coat option seemed to be a good fit, and it wasn't going to break the bank at $1400.

We were surprised to see the number of vehicles heading in and out of the Maaco - everything from vintage cars to modern tuner cars, trucks, sedans and full restorations. Since the shop does both body work as well as paint, Capdevielle told us that his customers range from simple jobs to extremetly complex ones.

“I get people who come in who don’t want to do any prep on their car, and with the special that we have airing right now, they say I just want to spend $300 like the offer says and that's it," he explains. "Then I have other people who want to do it right, want to do the color sand and buff, and then it’ll be closer to $2000 for that type of job. Sometimes we’ll get people who come in and want parts of their car shot, or maybe just the bumpers shot. Basically it’s almost like a Subway sandwiches type of option – however you want to order it, we’ll do it that way. We do framework, restorations, metal work and replacement. You name it, we do it all the time."

Maaco can paint just about any color imaginable, but if you’re looking for something specific for trying to color match, getting the color code from the manufacturer (by calling the dealership or looking it up online) will be your best bet. We decided to go with Anvil for the WJ, a color currently used on the 10th Anniversary Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. It’s almost like a deep primer grey, and we thought it would look nice offset with the black Bushwacker fender flares and other pieces we will install down the road. The turnaround time for most full paintjobs is roughly three to five days, depending upon the number of vehicles in the shop.

Once we had determined a realistic option for painting the Jeep, we were ready to move on to the installation of the Bushwacker flares. It should be noted that although our story outlines the gist of the installation, we still recommend following the company’s very detailed instructions (found here). There are quite a few steps that we breeze over for the sake of the story (otherwise we'd be here all day!), and we also followed a slightly different pattern since they vehicle was painted. The instructions feature the specific measurements and details of the step-by-step process needed to properly install the flares, and honestly Bushwacker did a great job with them to take out any of the guesswork (which isn't always the case with aftermarket kits). Our story is more of a recap of the process.

In the end, we couldn't be happier with the Bushwacker Cut-Out Fender Flares. The kit is not a simple bolt-on application, but the instructions outline the process very well and we are very pleased with the fit, finish and quality of the final products. Our experience with Maaco was also great. As nice as paint would be, honestly, it doesn’t make sense for some people to paint their rigs. We were on the fence with the WJ, but we were happy to find a cost-effective solution to painting our Jeep at the Costa Mesa Maaco, but most imporantly, they did a great job. It gives the Jeep a fresh new look, and we were able to get a quality paintjob that break the bank early on in the project. Next we'll look forward to installing our BDS 4-inch lift kit with Fox shocks, and look to fit some new 33-inch rubber underneath our WJ.